Paris Hilton, "Stars Are Blind"

Like countless others, I reacted to Paris Hilton's witheringly clever response to John McCain's use of her in an anti-Obama ad with dropped-jaw astonishment. "I didn't know she had it in her," went others' reactions throughout the blogosphere and the real world. But I've been thinking about how impressed I am with her media savvy.

Despite being of marginal intelligence, bony and birdish, and frequently unpleasant, Paris the heiress has created for herself an entire mythography of an existence, dabbling indifferently in field to field just long enough to get attention for it and not long enough to bear obligation to it. She's the ultimate free agent.

Take, f'rex, "Stars Are Blind", a slight reggae-pop tune that she took into the Top 20 two summers ago. It's a nick of UB40's "Kingston Town" (tip of the cap to friend Mshray for pointing that out to me back then) with little in the way of lyrical content, but Paris sells its breeziness with an undeniable carefree charm you can't AutoTune into being.

Paris, although your self-absorption and self-awareness represent a lot of what I hate about contemporary U.S. culture, I have to applaud you for exposing the absurdity of the "celebrity" meme in our presidential horse race. Loves it; keep up the good work.